


Ability to Deal

by IceBlueRose



Category: Adam Lambert (Musician), American Idol RPF, Kris Allen (Musician)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-07-16
Updated: 2011-08-04
Packaged: 2017-10-21 10:55:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/224413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IceBlueRose/pseuds/IceBlueRose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This was the last thing Adam was expecting to find when he got home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Magic, the world had discovered, was very much real. It had meant that every company, every celebrity had had to revamp their security to make sure that people couldn’t magic their way into buildings or homes.

This is why Adam really wasn’t expecting to open his door and find a four year old boy sitting on his floor, happily coloring in a Transformers coloring book.

Adam stared at him for a few minutes, blinking. “Um,” was all he could really think to say.

Then the little boy looked up and an all too familiar smile appeared on his face as he scrambled to his feet. “Hi!”

“Hi.” Adam shut the door behind him and let out a breath. “Kris?”

“Yup.” Kris nodded and tilted his head back. “You take care of me she said.”

“Who?”

“The pretty lady, Adam.”

Pretty lady, Adam thought. Who the hell was the pretty lady? “Did the pretty lady have a name?”

“She said I could call her Miss Lizzie.” Kris smiled up at him. “Can we color more?”

Adam shook his head. “Maybe in a little but, first, I really need to call your mom and see if she can get you.” Because Adam was sure to screw this up before they could get Kris turned back and he wasn’t going to risk Kris or his safety. He pulled out his cell phone and began to scroll through his contacts, looking for Kim’s number. He paused when he heard a small sniff and looked up to see Kris staring at the carpet and already moving back to his coloring book. Adam felt a flash of panic and quickly moved so that he was kneeling in front of Kris, hesitantly putting a hand on his arm to stop him. “Hey, what’s the matter?”

Kris’s breath hitched as he brought a small fist up to rub his tear-filled eyes. “You don’t want me here?” he asked, his voice sounding small even for a four year old.

Jesus, he’d made Kris Allen cry. He was going to that special circle of hell reserved for people who kicked puppies and ate babies.

He took in the way Kris was avoiding looking at him, the slightly flushed cheeks, still round with baby fat, and the way that Kris bit his lip and that was it. Adam just couldn’t do it.

Letting out a small breath, Adam pulled Kris into his arms, feeling relieved when Kris’s arms automatically wrapped around his neck and he buried his face in Adam’s chest. “I always want you here, Kris,” Adam told him softly, silently acknowledging just how true that actually was.

There was another sniff. “Really?”

Adam’s lips twitched at how muffled Kris’s voice was. “Really.” He pulled back slightly and swiped his thumb under Kris’s eyes, briefly wondering how it was that Kris knew who he was. “Kris, how did you know who I was?”

Kris wrinkled his nose (and really, it was unfair how cute that was) as he looked up at Adam. “Silly, I always know you.” It was said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Adam laughed slightly. “Right. Silly me.”

“And Momma said Miss Lizzie was nice and that’s why I could go with her.”

At that, Adam froze. “Your momma knows Miss Lizzie?” he asked. When Kris nodded, Adam could only blink. Kim knew this Lizzie person, which meant that she knew what had happened to Kris and where he was. “Kris, you okay coloring by yourself for a little bit more?” He was ridiculously grateful when Kris nodded and ran back to sprawl out on the floor where he began to carefully color a picture of...hell if Adam knew. He couldn’t tell when the picture was upside down. Still, he was pretty sure he could count on Kris not hurting himself or something. Hadn’t Kim once said in an interview that her biggest problem with Kris as a kid was trying to get him to clean his room?

Quickly, he dialed as he walked into the kitchen, heading directly for the cabinet where he kept his glasses.

“Hello, Adam,” Kim said, answering the phone.

“Kim.” Adam couldn’t help but wave his hands in the air a bit. “Kris. Four.”

On the other end, Kim laughed. “Yes, I know. But you should be just fine. Kristopher was always a good little boy.”

Adam took a deep breath. “Yeah, I’m getting that already. But why is he here? Not that I’m mad about it or anything, it’s just...” He leaned to the side a bit so that he could get a good look at Kris again. “Weird,” he finished. “And why was he alone in the house when I got here?”

“He’s there because you need to realize something. I can’t tell you what though. But don’t you worry, he wasn’t alone. Lizzie stayed with Kristopher until she heard you coming and then she left.”

“Lizzie,” Adam repeated. “And Lizzie is...”

“Family,” was the only response that he got.

“Family. Of course,” he sighed. “Anything else?”

“There’s no time limit on that spell, Adam. So if you don’t stop acting like a fool and figure things out, Kristopher is going to be four years old for quite some time. Now, get back to Kristopher because good boy or not, he’s still four. Give Kristopher a kiss for me, honey, and take care of yourself.” She didn’t wait for a reply before hanging up.

Adam pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it for a few moments before he scrubbed a hand over his face.

“Okay, Lambert,” he muttered. “You can do this.” He could. He’d been four once. Okay, so he’d been more into playing dress up but that just meant he’d be awesome at the more laidback things that Kris wanted to do.

“Adam?”

He glanced down at Kris. “Yeah?”

“I’m hungry.”

Shit.

 

~*~*~

 

Adam didn’t know who had invented pizza but when he found out, he was building a shrine to them. Not only did he not have to cook but it was delivered so he didn’t have to expose Kris to the paparazzi any earlier than he had to.

He looked up at Kris and laughed at the sight of the sauce spread over his cheeks. Kris looked up from where he was pulling the cheese off to eat it separate and grinned at him.

“Done?” Adam asked once Kris was just poking at the food left on his plate. Kris looked up and nodded.

“Ice cream now?” he asked, looking hopeful.

“You wish.” Adam moved to the counter, grabbing a handful of paper towels and wetting them. He turned to find Kris eyeing him and the paper towels warily. “Just to clean the sauce off your face, okay?” Adam wasn’t stupid, he wasn’t about to try and force Kris to take a bath.

Kris considered this and then sighed, nodding. “Okay,” he said, turning in the chair. His face scrunched up when Adam began to swipe the paper towels over his cheeks and he giggled. “That feels funny.”

Really, how come no one had told him that Kris was this adorable as a kid? Not that it was a surprise but still. These were things a guy should know about his best friend.

Grinning, Adam tossed the paper towels on top of the paper plates and wiggled his fingers. “Not as funny as…this!” He laughed when Kris shrieked with laughter, twisting in the chair to avoid being tickled. Kris kicked his legs, his face turning red from laughter as Adam continued to tickle his sides until he finally slumped forward, still laughing.

“Come on, we’ll watch a movie and then it’s bedtime for you,” Adam told him, glancing at the clock. When the hell had it gotten so late? Kris was probably going to fall asleep during the movie.

“Can I wear my Transformers ‘jamas?” Kris wrapped his arms and legs around Adam in a clear indication that he wanted to be picked up. Adam frowned even as he stood, making sure that at least one arm was around Kris.

“I don’t have your clothes here, Kris.”

“Miss Lizzie left ‘em in the room.” Kris pointed towards the hallway that led to the bedrooms before looking back at Adam.

He really needed to find out who Miss Lizzie was so he could ask her what the hell she thought she was doing, just barging into his house and leaving a four year old on his own. “Well, okay then. Transformers pajamas it is.”

Kris literally beamed at him. “Can we watch Disney?”

Fuck, did Adam even own any Disney?

It turned out that it didn’t matter if he did because Miss Lizzie had struck again and left Disney DVDs for Kris, who had excitedly announced, “Momma said there’s ones in there that I haven’t seen yet and can we watch one of those, Adam, can we, please?” He pointed at one. “This one has a carpet that flies, Adam.” The very idea caused Kris’s entire face to light up and, well, how was Adam supposed to say no to that?

Instead, he watched as Kris lost himself in the movie, frowning when Aladdin was knocked around by the guards, giggling at Genie, and making a face when Aladdin and Jasmine kissed.

“Adam,” Kris looked horrified, “now he’s got girl cooties. And Tommy said those never go away!”

Adam was laughing so hard, he couldn’t even answer.

 

~*~*~

 

Things were going too well, Adam decided later. Kris had been practically asleep by the end of the movie so putting him to bed had been easy. He sighed and shifted so that he was lying on his back. It wasn’t too long before he finally started to drift to sleep.

Of course, this was when he heard shuffling just outside of his room. There was only one person it could be.

Adam pushed himself up so that he was sitting, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the dark. “Kris?” he called softly.

More shuffling and then, “Can I stay with you?”

He reached out and turned on the lamp to the lowest setting, grateful for the low light when he saw Kris standing in the doorway, eyes wide. “What’s wrong?” he asked. “You don’t like your room?”

Kris looked over his shoulder and then back up at him. “Monsters,” he said simply.

Adam thought back to the way his dad had organized little adventures to show him and Neil that there were no monsters anywhere. They’d take nearly an hour sometimes before it was deemed safe to go to bed. He could do that. Adam glanced back at Kris. Or...

He shoved the covers down. “Get in.”

He didn’t need to say anything more before Kris was running into the room and scrambling on to the bed. Adam settled back down, making sure to pull the covers over Kris as he did so. Before he could say anything, Kris moved closer, wrapping his arms around Adam as much as he could. Adam paused at the movement before he smiled a bit and turned off the light, rubbing Kris’s back lightly.

“Get some sleep,” Adam told him, keeping his voice soft. Kris nodded.

“Night, Adam.”

Adam bent his head, pressing his lips to Kris’s head and keeping one arm around him. “Good night, Kris.”


	2. Chapter 2

Adam woke up to a warm weight partially on his chest and he opened his eyes to find that Kris had somehow managed to half climb on him sometime during the night. He closed his eyes again and shook his head. It hadn’t been a dream. Kris was a four year old, they’d eaten pizza and watched Aladdin and, knowing Kris, he was going to want to play outside today.

God, Adam wasn’t ready for this, for any of it. He wasn’t ready to figure out whatever he needed to and he definitely wasn’t ready for the vultures that paraded as paparazzi to focus on Kris.

Just one day. That’s all he wanted, one day before it all went to hell.

He tensed briefly when Kris stirred and then relaxed, unable to stop the small smile when Kris slowly blinked his eyes open, cheeks flushed from sleep. Kris tilted his head up and Adam’s smile widened at the sight of small indentations from his shirt on Kris’s cheeks.

Kris didn’t say anything, studying Adam instead before he blinked a few times and buried his face against Adam’s shoulder.

It was kind of ridiculous how much Kris made Adam smile, he decided even as he nudged Kris lightly. “Hey, come on. Time to get up.”

Kris shook his head. “No.”

“Kris.”

“Don’t wanna.”

Whether he wanted to or not, he was going to have to get up. Adam needed to brush his teeth and use the bathroom badly.

“Kristopher.”

Kris’s eyes widened and he hesitated for a few more moments before he climbed off of Adam, a small pout on his face.

Adam smirked and shook his head as he stood and then reached out, ruffling Kris’s hair. “We’ll have breakfast in a little while, okay?”

“Can I watch cartoons?”

“After you brush your teeth.”

 

~*~*~

 

“Can we go outside?” Kris asked as Adam lifted him to sit on the bar stool, a bowl of cereal in front of him. Kris, Adam realized as he watched Kris swing his legs back and forth, was going to kill him with cute.

“Not today.” When Kris frowned down at his cereal, Adam continued, “There’s some people out there who like to follow me and take pictures and I wanted to stay away from them today, okay? We can go tomorrow,” he promised.

Kris continued to frown. “Are they mean?”

“Not on purpose.” At least, Adam hoped it wasn’t on purpose because, really, how much shittier could things get?

He really hoped the universe didn’t decide to answer that.

 

~*~*~

 

Kris had watched a couple of hours of cartoons (Adam wasn’t entirely sure he was supposed to leave Kris in front of the TV that long but he did it for movies so he figured it should be okay) and had brought out a bucket of Legos, again courtesy of Miss Lizzie, to start building his own city. Adam laughed to himself as he watched and then paused, tilting his head, considering what he was looking at.

Yeah, he wasn’t seeing things. That was a Lego version of Gotham City and that was a little Lego Batman fighting a Lego Joker.

“You’ll never get away with this one, Joker,” Kris declared, deepening his voice as much as he could as he made Batman rush at the Joker. Adam bit his lip, quietly opening up his phone and pulling up the video camera. He carefully aimed it at Kris and hit record.

Kris’s voice changed to a higher pitch as he cackled—honest to God _cackled_ —and had the Joker dodge. “You’re already too late, Batman! Get him, boys,” he said and then he set aside the Joker and had...Jesus, those were little Lego attack dogs that were attacking Batman.

Adam grinned and continued to record for a few more minutes as Kris acted out the fight between Batman and the attack dogs, complete with sound effects. Just as Batman won, he hit the stop button and put his phone away, enjoying that he didn’t have to worry about it ringing so that Lane could remind him about some appointment or another that he couldn’t miss.

“To the Batmobile!”

Kris made Batman jump over a fence and into the Batmobile, making the sound of squealing tires as Batman drove away.

“Pretty intense,” Adam said, moving so that he was kneeling on the floor next to one of the bigger buildings. Kris paused and frowned.

“What’s intense?”

Oh damn. Of course Kris would want to know what that meant. He tried to think of a way to describe intense without using even more words that would have Kris asking questions.

“It’s...like I didn’t know if Batman was going to win or not and I had to wait to know. Kind of like that.” Except Adam is pretty sure he just defined anticipation. Shit. Well, it’s not like anyone’s going to quiz Kris on that.

At least, they better not because really, who would do that anyway?

“Oh.” Kris easily accepted the answer and then moved so that he was sprawled across Adam’s legs and Adam couldn’t help but be amused at how much of a cuddler Kris was, even at four. “Adam?”

“Yeah?”

“Can we make a fort?”

Well, fuck.

 

~*~*~

 

“How do you build a fort in a living room?”

“Are you drunk? Seriously, it’s barely even fucking noon, Adam.”

“Shut up, Neil.” Adam glanced into the other room to be sure Kris couldn’t hear him. “I’m sober, thank you very much. Now, how do you build a fort?”

“What am I, the fort expert?”

“You built more of them than I ever did. Do I need to remind you of how you declared yourself to be King Neil?”

“If you do, I’m not telling you how to build a fort.”

Adam sighed. “Fine, I won’t remind you.”

“Good. Then I’ll tell you how to build a fort, peasant.” Neil sounded entirely too smug. “Sheets.”

There was no way it was that simple. “Sheets,” he repeated.

“Did I stutter? Yes, sheets. You drape them over the furniture and you’re going find things heavy enough to hold the sheets in place. Get creative with it. But, fuck, make sure you drape the sheet over the TV. There is nothing worse than a fort with nothing to do. Also, you can make towers if you have boxes but those can get knocked down so be careful.”

“So that’s how I keep the sheets from falling down in the middle of the room?”

“It’s actually easier if you drag the couch closer to the TV so that the sheet doesn’t have far to go.”

“Drag the _couch_?”

“Aren’t you glad you didn’t get a sleeper sofa like Mom and Dad used to have?”

Adam didn’t even want to think about it. “Okay, so drag the couch closer to the TV so the sheets can stretch that far. Maybe leave room to lay down in it.”

“Now you’re getting it,” Neil said. “Now why are you building a fort? This isn’t some weird kink, is it?”

“No, Kris wants to build one.”

“Jesus fucking Christ, don’t tell me you two have finally decided to have sex and Kris is into some weird shit that means he wants it in a fort.”

“Neil—“

“I said don’t tell me.”

“He’s four.”

There was a few moments of silence. “Say that again.”

“Kris is four. It’s a spell of some sort and Kim knows about it but he’s staying with me.” That was a sentence he never thought he’d say.

“You’re telling me more about this when you don’t have a kid waiting for you,” Neil told him. “Then I’m going to laugh at you because everyone always said that this would be me before it’d ever be you.”

Adam hated his brother. “Thanks, asshole.”

“Anytime, assface.”

Adam hung up.

 

~*~*~

 

It didn’t take nearly as long as Adam thought it would once he’d figured out how close to drag the couch. He’d sacrificed his sheets and the back of his couch by securing them there with pins (Drake would kill him if he ever found out). The other side had been easy enough to anchor down with paperweights (why did he even have those?) and he’d used another sheet to pin to the wall so that the fort was longer than it had started. He’d dragged in one of his extra comforters so that they’d have something other than the floor and a few pillows.

“Can we play in there?” Kris looked up at him and he nodded.

“We can even watch movies in there.”

Kris’s eyes widened. “And read books?”

Adam couldn’t help but laugh. “And read books,” he said. He looked down at himself and decided if he was going to play in a fort, he was wearing something more comfortable than jeans. “Why don’t you go pick out some toys and stuff to take in there while I get into clothes that are better for playing in a fort?”

Kris grinned and nodded, running out of the room already causing Adam to shake his head and laugh.

Seriously, too cute.

It didn’t take long before Kris had books, DVDs, a couple of stuffed animals that Adam had never seen before, Hot Wheels, a few action figures, and Legos in the fort. Adam had changed into drawstring pants and a loose shirt and he couldn’t stop the smile on his face as he crawled into the fort if he tried. Kris was setting up for the long haul clearly.

“Okay.” Adam looked over everything. “What’s first?”

 

~*~*~

 

They’d watched _The Lion King_ while using the books to make buildings to put the Hot Wheels in while the pillows were mountains and had briefly stopped to eat lunch to continue the game. Adam had put _Toy Story_ in next and thirty minutes into it, Kris was staring at his action figures with a considering look on his face. Halfway through the movie, Kris was slumped against Adam, asleep.

Adam had completely forgotten about naps.

Shifting Kris carefully so that he was lying on one of the pillows, Adam stopped the movie and ran a hand over Kris’s hair, smiling at the smell of peppermint. Kris had discovered the small candies at lunch and had managed to convince Adam that they should have some for dessert. Shaking his head at himself, Adam crawled back out of the fort, blinking against the sunlight coming from the windows. He grimaced as he straightened, feeling the way his muscles stretched.

Glancing at the clock, Adam figured he’d let Kris sleep for an hour, maybe a little longer, before waking him up. That should give him enough time to call Neil and explain this a bit more. Then he was calling his mom.

She’d kill him if she found out about this by watching TV.


	3. Chapter 3

Leila smiled as she glanced in the direction of the fort, where Kris was still sleeping. “He really is adorable.” It had only taken a few minutes into the conversation for Leila to tell Adam she was coming over to see what was going on for herself.

Adam followed her gaze and didn’t bother to try and hide his own smile. “If you think he’s adorable now, you should see him when he’s awake,” he said. “I can’t remember the last time I smiled this much.”

She shook her head. “Is anything known about the magic that was used?” she asked.

“Not that I know of.” Adam frowned as he tried to remember what he’d learned about magic. Then again, he’d never paid attention to spells that could cause a person to turn back into a child.

There was a few moments of silence and then Leila tilted her head in consideration. “I wonder if they used a rune stone.” Off of Adam’s look, she raised an eyebrow. “I’ve been reading,” she said simply.

“Kim didn’t say if they had used anything like that or not.” Adam leaned back. “But it’s tied to me, apparently. Something I have to figure out or else Kris stays like this.” When his mom smiled knowingly, Adam narrowed his eyes. “You know what I have to figure out?” he asked.

“Well, I’d think that it’s pretty obvious.”

He waited a few more moments. “You’re not going to tell me, are you?” Adam finally sighed.

Leila shook her head. “No,” she told him. “Because even if I did, that wouldn’t do anything to fix this—not if the conditions of the spell call for you to figure it out yourself.”

“That is no help at all,” Adam muttered. He paused when there was movement in the fort (he really never thought he’d think that, ever) and then Kris crawled out. He smiled when Kris walked towards him, rubbing his eyes, and leaned against his side.

“Adam,” he said, voice still thick with sleep, “I’m thirsty.”

Adam fought the urge to grin and lifted Kris onto his lap. “Yeah? Let’s get you some water then.” Ignoring the way his mom was smiling at them, he stood, making sure not to disturb Kris, who had wrapped his arms and legs around Adam, and grabbed the small cup that he’d been using for Kris. Kris didn’t say anything as Adam set him on the counter, keeping one arm in front of Kris, and filled the cup about halfway before handing it to Kris. “Carefully,” Adam told him, thinking of that morning when Kris had tilted the cup too fast and caused juice to splash his face. He smiled when Kris slowed down until he had finished.

In a silent request to be picked back up, Kris lifted his arms, wrapping his arms around Adam’s neck when Adam picked him up and walked back to the table. It was only once they were sitting down again that Kris noticed Leila and his eyes widened as he stared at her, turning his face so that it was pressed against Adam’s neck. Part of Adam wanted to laugh at the fact that Kris was such a cuddler after he’d been sleeping.

Some things really didn’t change.

“Hey,” he said, making sure to keep his voice soft. “It’s okay, Kris.” He turned so that they were both facing Leila a bit. “See that lady? That’s my mom, Leila.”

Kris turned to look at her. “You’re Adam’s momma?” When Leila nodded, he lifted his head. “Can I call you Momma Leila?”

At the familiar name—one Kris had begun to call her back during the days of American Idol—Leila laughed. “Of course you can,” she said. “I’d like that.”

Kris smiled. “Okay.” After a few moments, he brightened. “Have you ever seen Toy Story?”

Leila nodded. “I have. A couple of my nieces happen to love that movie.”

“Do you think it’s real? Do the toys talk at night and stuff?” The idea clearly fascinated Kris.

“I think they might,” Leila confirmed. “We’ll never know, I guess, but I like to think that they could.”

“As long as it’s not in a creepy Chucky sort of way, sure,” Adam muttered.

“What’s Chucky?” Kris asked, tilting his head back so that he was looking up at Adam.

Damn. From the corner of his eye, Adam saw his mom cover her mouth as if she were fighting not to laugh. “It’s a scary movie for grown ups.”

Kris frowned. “Oh. I don’t like it when things are scary though.”

“You won’t ever have to watch it if you don’t want to,” Adam promised. Kris practically beamed when Adam told him that and Adam had to remind himself that if he kept smiling, he was going to look like an idiot.

“Momma Leila, are you going to stay and play with us?” Kris asked, turning so that he was facing Leila completely.

Leila shook her head. “Not today. I just came to visit Adam and meet you. But I’ll come back and see you, okay?” she said when Kris’s face started to fall. At that, Kris nodded, his smile returning before he turned back to Adam. “Can I play with the cars now?”

Adam laughed and set Kris down. “Go for it.”

He waved at Leila and then ran back to the fort, crawling back inside. They could hear Kris beginning to once again make car noises, complete with screeching brakes.

Adam turned back to his mom as they both stood. “You’re really not going to stay?”

She shook her head. “No. I don’t need to.” She stretched up and kissed his cheek. “You’re doing just fine with him, Adam. And I have complete faith that you’ll figure out what you need to.” She squeezed his shoulder. “That doesn’t mean that I’m not available if you need something quickly, understood?”

He nodded. “Yeah. Understood.” He walked her to the door and hugged her tightly. “Thanks.”

She smiled as she hugged him back. “You’re welcome. I love you.”

“Love you too, Mom,” he said softly. “I’ll call you.”

“You better,” she told him, poking him in the chest. Still smiling slightly, she walked out of the door. Adam sighed as he leaned against the door before he turned back to the fort and wondered briefly if he should change his mind about going outside today. It really wasn’t fair to keep Kris inside the house the whole time.

Then again, leaving the house meant exposing Kris to what it was like to have paparazzi dodging their every step and wanting to know what they were doing and what were their thoughts about the latest scandal or whatever.

He turned to glance through to the other room and felt like a complete idiot.

Maybe he couldn’t take Kris to the park but he could still compromise.

“Hey, Kris,” he said, crouching to look inside the fort. He smiled when Kris looked up at him. “I know I said we couldn’t go outside today but we really just can’t go to the park or anything. What do you say to playing in the backyard?”

Kris’s face lit up. “Really?”

Adam nodded. “Really.”

Before Adam could stand, Kris frowned. “But what about the people who follow you and take pictures?”

“They can’t see in my backyard. I made sure of it,” Adam told him. He laughed when Kris scrambled out and stood, practically dancing in place. He looked back towards the back door as he thought of something. “Can you swim?”

Kris shook his head. “I’m not big enough yet. Momma said so.” The tone of his voice said that Kris clearly thought that, for once, Momma was wrong.

Adam nodded again. “Then you’re going to stay in my arms and we’ll stay in the shallow end,” he decided. “Let’s get you ready to go outside.” Already, he was trying to remember where he’d put the sun block.

And hopefully the ever so helpful Miss Lizzie had left Kris with a bathing suit.


	4. Chapter 4

“’m not tired,” Kris said, his voice muffled against Adam’s neck. Adam smiled and shook his head, fighting not to laugh at the tickle of Kris’s damp hair. He’d lucked out that it hadn’t been much of a challenge to get Kris to take a bath since he’d been able to tell him it was like swimming with bubbles. (Of course, Kris had also looked at him like he was crazy and like he couldn’t believe that Adam expected Kris to actually buy that.)

“Well, then, why don’t you just rest your eyes for a little while for me?” he asked. Kris seemed to consider this and then nodded.

“’kay.”

Adam gently set Kris down on the bed, pulling the covers up. He paused just as he was about to tell Kris good night and then said, “Rest for a little while, okay, Kris?”

“Okay.” Kris turned over and wrapped his arms around his pillow in a way that was extremely familiar to Adam from when they’d been living in the Idol mansion.

Letting out a breath, Adam smiled once more before heading to his room, making sure to leave the doors to both his and Kris’s rooms open just in case Kris ended up leaving his room again.

He had a whole new respect for single parents and parents in general, Adam decided as he got ready for bed. Taking care of a kid, especially without anyone else’s help, even when the kid was completely well-behaved and was Kris Allen, could be exhausting.

It wasn’t long before he’d fallen asleep.

 

~*~*~

 

Adam woke up with a familiar weight on his chest and knew, even before he’d opened his eyes, that Kris had come into his room again. How he’d managed that without waking Adam up this time, he didn’t know, but he’d managed it.

Glancing at the clock, Adam decided to let Kris sleep a little longer and carefully lifted Kris off of his chest and set him to the side. He took his time getting ready for the day, brushing his teeth and showering. Glancing in his room, he grinned when he saw Kris sprawled out on his side of the bed, directly in the same spot that Adam had been sleeping in.

Quietly, Adam dressed and went in to the other room, pulling out his phone. He groaned when he saw the text reminder from Lane telling him that he had agreed to make an appearance on a few late night shows. He knew exactly what that meant – preparing for the questions and the need for new jeans (because he’d be damned if he was wearing the old ones he’d been planning to get rid of).

This meant either finding someone to watch Kris or he’d have to take him when he went shopping. Adam let out a breath and tilted his head back.

It wouldn’t be fair to continue to keep Kris inside. It didn’t matter that it’d only been a couple of days, Adam knew himself. If he didn’t just do it, he’d keep finding reasons to avoid taking Kris outside so that he wouldn’t have to deal with the cameras and the questions.

He sighed. “Shopping trip it is,” he decided, heading in to the kitchen. He pulled open the freezer door and stared inside, trying to find what he was looking for.

It couldn’t be hard to make waffles, after all.

 

~*~*~

 

Adam grinned as he watched Kris eat his waffles – that was a lot of syrup ending up on his face. Shaking his head, he quickly pulled up a familiar number on his phone and hit call. It didn’t take long before there was an answer.

“If someone is not dying, Sparkles, you’re dead.”

“Good morning to you too, Brad.”

“Oh for the love of—what?”

“Late night?”

“Maybe. Why?”

“I’m done,” Kris exclaimed, pushing his plate away.

Adam turned and burst out laughing. “I can see that. Why don’t we get that syrup off your face?” he asked.

“Please tell me you didn’t have a personality transplant, get kidnapped and replaced by demons, or discover you had an illegitimate child from a drunken one night stand because that sounded like a child.”

“Replaced by demons? Really?”

“Like I know what you get into.”

“None of the above, jackass. That was Kris that you heard.”

“Okay, he’s not that young. And his voice is much deeper. How is that the Pocket Idol?” Brad demanded, sounding much more awake than he had before.

“He’s been turned into a four year old.”

There was a long moment of silence and then Brad burst out laughing. “Are you kidding me? And they thought he should be left with you?”

“Shut up. I’ll have you know that I even got the stamp of approval from my mom. And Kim’s the one who said he could stay here.”

There was another moment of silence and then, “Well, then you must be doing something right.”

“Must be,” Adam agreed, reaching out and lifting Kris with one arm, causing him to laugh.

“Again,” Kris said.

“Next time,” Adam promised him as he set him down. “For now, we’re cleaning your face.” He led him to the bathroom and sat him on the toilet seat, turning on the water in the sink. To Brad, he said, “That’s not the whole reason I called you.”

“This isn’t a big enough reason?”

“I have to make a few late night show appearances and I need new jeans. You’re one of the only people who will tell me honestly if I look terrible in them.”

It was almost too easy to picture Brad sitting up and smiling. “Shopping?”

“Shopping,” Adam confirmed, holding a washcloth under the water once it was warm and turning back to Kris, making a face at him as he held up the washcloth. “Hold on.” He put the phone down and wiped Kris’s face, going over it a few times when it caught on the syrup that was already drying. “All clean,” he declared. He stepped back so that Kris would slide off until he was standing. “Go find something that you can wear if we go out today.” Grinning at the way that Kris’s face lit up, he ruffled Kris’s hair and picked the phone back up.

“So, are you up to coming shopping with me and Kris?”

“Please, I totally want to see a mini-Kris. I’d show up for that alone,” Brad said. “What time?”

“Meet for lunch and then go from there?”

“See you in a few hours, Sparkles!”

Adam rolled his eyes as he hung up. Give Brad the possibility of shopping and he was fine. Throw in Kris (because the two had become oddly close friends) and it was even more likely that he’d show.

 

~*~*~

 

“Where are we going?” Kris asked as Adam shoved his wallet into his pocket.

There was going to have to be more than just the quick excuse for this part, Adam decided, crouching down. “Remember how I told you that there are people who like to follow me and take pictures?” He waited until Kris had nodded before continuing. “Well, that’s because I’m a singer and a lot of people know who I am.”

“Like Michael Jackson?”

Adam laughed. “Sort of, yeah, we just sing different kinds of music. Plus, I think a lot more people listen to Michael.”

“I’d listen to you, Adam.”

Adam ran a hand over Kris’s hair and thought of how Kris had laughed and showed off the fact that Adam was at the top of his most listened to playlist. “I bet you would. But because of the singing, sometimes I have to go on TV and we’re going to go get some new jeans for me. And some shirts.” And maybe they’d be stopping at one of the toy stores in town so that Kris could get something too. He smiled at the thought and stood. “A friend of mine that I think you’ll like is going to come help us out with that.”

“Are they fun?”

“He’s very fun. His name is Brad but some people call him Cheeks.”

Kris giggled as Adam lifted him. “Cheeks?”

“Yup,” Adam told him. “Want to go meet him?”

Kris nodded. “Okay.”

 

~*~*~

 

“Sparkles,” Brad exclaimed, waving.

Kris’s face scrunched up in confusion and he looked at Adam. “What’s that mean?”

Adam fought the urge to grin like an idiot. He didn’t need to show off what a dork he was for how cute Kris was in front of Brad. “It’s just his nickname for me. Because I like to use a lot of glitter sometimes.”

“Oh.” Kris’s arms tightened around Adam’s neck and Adam briefly wondered how many photos would magically appear of him holding a child and how many stories would pop up about how he had a kid no one knew about.

Then again, that might be better than having it suddenly be known that Kris Allen had been turned into a toddler.

“Well, isn’t he just the cutest thing besides me that I’ve ever seen?”

Adam snorted. “Brad.”

“And you, of course.” Brad smiled and shook his head. “Seriously, though, he’s adorable.” Brad focused on Kris. “Hi, cutie, I’m Brad.”

Kris stared at him for a few moments. “Adam said people call you Cheeks.”

Raising an eyebrow at Adam, Brad’s lips twitched. “Only some people. But the people I really like get to call me by my real name. And if you’re a friend of Adam’s, I bet I’m going to like you so you can call me Brad, okay?”

Kris tilted his head and studied him before nodding. “Are you going to help us get the shirts?” he asked.

“A man after my own heart.” Brad tilted his head. “Let’s get this started and you can tell me when it went from just jeans to shirts.”

“Actually both,” Adam told him.

“Oh, even better!”

It was over an hour later when Adam turned to Brad who had decided he wanted to be the one holding a semi-sleepy Kris (and, oh, he could just picture the stories now about how he and Brad had gotten back together and adopted). “I’m good with what we’ve got but I do have another stop that I need to make.” He glanced at Kris and smiled. “Seems to me that there’s a pretty cool toy store at that mall across the street.” Seeing the way Kris’s face lit up made Adam extremely happy that they’d decided to go to the outlet mall across the street from the actual shopping mall.

The idea of going to the toy store seemed to have woken Kris up and he’d begun asking questions about what kind of toys were there and could he really get anything he wanted because he wanted to see if they had a Batman toy.

Brad smirked at Adam as they entered the store and he put Kris down, letting Kris lead the way as he ran down the first aisle. It was plain to see that there were a few people that recognized Adam but he was happy that they didn’t do much more than smile at him though he could see the curiosity.

“Okay, so I haven’t asked this whole time,” Brad said, “but what happened?”

“Not sure. I came home and there was Kris, sitting on the floor and coloring. I called Kim and she said that Kris would be staying with me because he won’t be turning back until I figure something out.” Off of Brad’s look, he rolled his eyes. “Don’t tell me. You know.”

“Anyone with eyes knows, Adam. You just happen to be more dense than most people.”

Adam narrowed his eyes. “Are you going to tell me?”

“And risk having Leila and Kim come after me when I blow it and cause Kris to have to relive his life from the start? I don’t’ think so.”

“You know more than you’re telling me,” Adam said, turning to face Brad completely. Brad shook his head.

“No, actually, I don’t. But like I said, it’s easy to see what you need to figure out. At least for most people.”

“I don’t want him to be stuck like this forever,” Adam sighed. He glanced over and paused, his stomach dropping as he froze. “Where’s Kris?” he asked.

All traces of amusement disappeared from Brad’s face as he looked down the aisle that Kris had gone, only to see that the only ones there were a woman with her daughter. “I don’t know.”


End file.
